Murphy J. Foster Jr.

Murphy James "Mike" Foster Jr. (11 July 1930-) was Governor of Louisiana (R) from 8 January 1996 to 12 January 2004, succeeding Edwin Edwards and preceding Kathleen Blanco.

Biography
Mike Foster was born in Franklin, St. Mary Parish, Louisiana in 1930, the son of a sugar planter; his maternal great-grandfather was a Confederate States Army captain during the American Civil War, and his grandfather was Governor Murphy J. Foster. Foster graduated from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge in 1952 with a chemistry degree, and he served in the US Air Force during the Korean War. Mike Foster became a sugar planter and construction firm owner before entering politics, leaving the Democratic Party in 1995 and changing his allegiance to the conservative Republican Party. In 1995, he ran for Governor of Louisiana, voicing his opposition to gambling, affirmative action, welfare, gun control, and racial quotas and pledging to run Louisiana like a business. Foster abolished affirmative action in the state, abolished the law requiring for motorcyclists to wear safety helmets, and ended the practice of lawyer suing businesses for damages in tort law. Foster was criticized for taking law classes while he was Governor, for his opposition to African-American civil rights, and for his implementation of high taxes, and he also decided to bail out a casino in the state due to his personal support for casinos, a move that was seen as a "flip-flop". Foster left office in 2004.